West Roxbury cat on the mend but traps still a concern

Max, a 3-year-old Maine Coon cat mix, hasn’t tried to make a run for it from his West Roxbury home since last week, said his owner Victoria Kickham on Friday. And, it’s no wonder: He’s been taking it easy and healing since being rescued from an illegal, rusty leg hold trap on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

Max, a 3-year-old Maine Coon cat mix, hasn’t tried to make a run for it from his West Roxbury home since last week, said his owner Victoria Kickham on Friday. And, it’s no wonder: He’s been taking it easy and healing since being rescued from an illegal, rusty leg hold trap on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

"He’s not a real vocal cat but he was screaming (on Tuesday)," said Kickham, who heard him from the kitchen of her single-family home on Maplewood Street early in the morning. Rushing outside to her yard, she said she initially thought he was caught on the fence, but soon saw he was dragging the approximately 4-inch-long device on his right front paw.

Luckily her daughters Olivia, 9, and Alexandra, 7, were still asleep.

She immediately called to her husband Michael, and as she held Max, Michael was able to remove the trap from his paw. After initially taking him to a local veterinarian, the Kickhams brought the white and brown cat to Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain.

Once there, emergency veterinarian Dr. Kiko Bracker gave him pain medicine and ordered X-rays to determine the extent of the damage, according to a press release from the MSPCA. Luckily for Max, he suffered only puncture wounds and none of the bones in his foot or leg had been broken.

"This is a very lucky cat — it’s common for cats and other animals to suffer severe injury to bones and soft tissue when they step on these traps, and too often the injuries result in amputation. Fortunately for Max a thorough cleansing of the wound, coupled with pain medicine and antibiotics, will help him return to his ‘old self’ in short order," said Bracker.

"I’m very shocked that something like this (trap) was in the neighborhood," said Victoria Kickham. "To have them in an urban area seems (crazy)," noting she lives on a street that is thickly settled.

She continued, "I am concerned primarily that if my cat was curious … what if there had been a curious child?"

Nothing new

Linda Huebner, deputy director of advocacy for the MSPCA-Angell, said she hears about the use of these illegal traps all the time.

Originally fur trappers used the devices. However, more recently they have been used for what people deem "nuisance animals," like possums or raccoons.

"It’s pretty brazen for whoever set it" in an urban environment, she said, adding there are many non-lethal ways to avoid conflict with wildlife, such as putting a secure lid on one’s garbage can.

Leg hold traps snap shut when animals step on them, crushing skin, bones and connective tissue and rendering the animal defenseless against the weather and predators, according to the MSPCA. The devices can also endanger the people who set them or try to release animals from them.

Page 2 of 2 -
The Massachusetts Wildlife Protection Act, which passed in 1996, bans traps like the one that injured Max in all but very specific instances. Even back in 1970s the traps were restricted.

The only time that a leg hold trap could be legally used is if a government authority tasked with protecting public health and safety decided there was a wildlife threat posed to human safety, she said.

"To my knowledge … there has never been an incidence when those authorities have used those traps since the law passed," Huebner said. If an agency chose to use them, they would have put up signs, she added.

"Domestic animals in particular are really susceptible to (traps) like this," she notes. "If (people) are finding these things, they need to be calling the authorities."

Her advice to pet owners on keeping their animals safe is simple: Keep cats inside and dogs on a leash "so you know what they’re being exposed to."

As for Max’s paw, "it looks better everyday," said Victoria Kickham, adding that she and the rest of her family will be vigilant about keeping Max and his brother Mo inside from now on.